Let's read. No, I'm okay. I was eating glucose
pills just a minute ago because I'm starting to feel a little
jittery and when I do that, I feel better now. Let's read this passage of scripture
again from 1 Corinthians chapter nine. This has always been a
passage of scripture that I have found to be a tough passage. Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may obtain. And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things, what discipline he uses
with regard to his own body. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I not as one that beateth
the air, striking no one, but I keep under my body Literally, I give it a black
eye, is what that actually says. And bring it into subjection,
like a conquered slave, lest that by any means, here's what
he feared. When I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway, a reprobate. disqualified, someone
who was never truly saved. Have you ever read that passage
of scripture and been frightened by it? Now this is one of 12 times that
Paul refers to sports to illustrate what he was saying. Know ye not that they which run
in a race, And I believe that the Apostle Paul was a sports
fan. I do, Paul. Twelve times he refers to sports
to illustrate what he was saying. And I've got some nasty letters
from people in the past when I've made this statement, somebody
that would hear it and say, you think that he cared about something
as vain and frivolous as sports? Well, I believe he did. I believe
he did. And he uses these references
to sports to illustrate what he is saying. Now, there were
two major sporting events in Greece, and this was in Greece.
Corinth was in Greece. There was the Olympics that were
held in Athens. And here in Corinth, every three
years, You had what was called the Isthmian Games. And they
were just as well thought of as the Olympics, once every three
years. And Paul was looking at the dedication
that these athletes gave to what they were doing. And it's no
different today. We're starting the Olympics in
a few weeks. You think of the effort. and
the discipline that these men used to train themselves to win. What effort, what they deny themselves,
what they do that most normal people would not do in order
to win this race that they're in. Now, Paul says, know ye not
that they which run in a race run all, but only one receives
The prize, there weren't bronze medals, there weren't silver
medals, only one person won. And he said, run that you may
obtain. And he is using this if these
men give such effort and such dedication and such discipline
and such giving their all to win this corruptible crown. a garland of olive leaves that
will rot soon enough. But oh, they give their entire
existence and life to have this corruptible crown. Shouldn't
we give much more diligence and effort in the race we're called
to run? We're called to run a race. Shouldn't we give much more discipline
and heart to run this race than those athletes give? This race is infinitely more
important, and shall I give it less effort and diligence than
these athletes? That is what Paul is talking
about. In this race, there's only one
winner, and Run this race to win it. And that's what Paul is saying.
Now, are you teaching salvation by works? Of course not. You
listen to this message. Hear me out in what he's saying.
He says you give every bit of effort, diligence in following
Christ. You know, there's nothing really,
when it comes right down to it, following Christ isn't easy,
is it? We're called upon to deny ourselves. Is that easy? To take
up our cross. Is that easy? No, sir. And to
follow and pursue the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me say this
about this race and this training. We're not competing with others
for the prize. This is so important. This is
not a thing about competing with others for the prize. As a matter
of fact, Every message I listened to on this passage of scripture
that I could find, everybody was talking about, don't lose
your reward. Don't lose your reward. You don't
want to lose the reward you would get for proper competition. We're not competing with anyone.
You know, as far as rewards in heaven, all you got to do is
read Matthew chapter 20 when the Lord deals with this subject.
And what does he say? The ones that worked 12 hours
and the ones that worked one hour. Now that's when the Lord
is dealing with these things. Peter said, hey, we left everything
and followed you. What's in it for us? We think
we ought to be getting more than these people who don't do as
much as us. We've done more. What's in it for us? And that's
when the Lord gives the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
And you know the parable. The people who worked 12 hours
were given the exact same thing as the people who worked one
hour. So much for heavenly rewards. Everybody gets the same thing,
Christ. What can you add to Christ? Can
you do anything to advance being found in him? Is there some work
of yours that would give you a higher reward in heaven? Now,
if you think that, that means you're trying to compete with
me and try to get above me. You're trying to get above somebody.
You can't do that without this spirit of competition. And this
is not about competing with other men. The one you're competing
with, your opponent, is you. The flesh. That's your opponent. You remember when Paul spoke
of that war that goes on in Galatians chapter 5 verse 17, the flesh,
your flesh. Let me tell you something about
your flesh and my flesh. It's evil. Amen? You know that about yourself?
It's evil. And it doesn't get any better.
You know, when people talk about progressive sanctification, how
you become progressively better and better and more holy and
more holy and less sinful, the more you read the Bible, the
more you deny yourself, you become... That's just a lie. I don't know how else to put
it. That's just a lie. The flesh is, I know I'm 65 years old,
and believe me, I don't know how long I've been a believer,
but I know my flesh is, in my own mind, more evil than it was
when I first looked to Christ. And the reason is I just have
more light about myself. And you have more light about
yourself. The flesh does not improve. You've got this war
to deal with with yourself. You're the one You're competing
with. That's why Paul said, I give
myself a black eye. I don't give somebody else a
black eye. I give myself this black eye. I'm competing with
myself. What do you think Paul was talking about in Romans chapter
seven? When he talked about the war. And that's the word he used. The war within, the flesh lusting
against the spirit in Galatians five. He talked about, turn over
to Romans seven for just a moment. This is really what Paul's talking
about. Verse 14. Romans chapter seven, verse 14.
For we know, and I love that language. We know. Who's the we? Every believer
without exception. We know that the law is spiritual. Oh, the holy law of God. But I am carnal, sold under Caesar. Aren't you saved, Paul? The only
people who are saved are the people who talk this way. Anybody
else has never even been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ.
This is what people who have the Spirit of God and have a
new nature, a holy nature, they see their old nature for what
it is. And this is where this language
comes from. We know the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold
under sin for that which I do. I allow not, I don't approve
of it. For what I would, I'd never sin
again. I'd never have another proud
thought. I'd never have another wicked thought. I'd never have
another wicked deed. I would never sin again. Look, I'm not looking for an
excuse for sin. I would never sin again. How
well you do there? Terrible. What I hate? that do I. If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto the law that's good. Now
then it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
I love the way Paul says this. He says, it wasn't me, it was
him. He's talking about his old man. For I know that in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me. I would never sin. I would be
perfectly conformed in the image of Christ. I would. I would.
But how to perform that which is good, sometimes I don't come
up with it. That's not what he says, is it?
He says, I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not. but the evil, which I would not,
that I do. Now, if I do that which I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me, for I delight in the law of God, after the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me? from the body of this death. And that's the competition he's
talking about, yourself. Now, every believer is assured victory in this strife in this contest
with yourself. You are the problem. I'm the
problem. People bring me down. People
aren't the problem. You're the problem. I'm the problem. Do you believe that about yourself?
I am the problem. That being said, my victory's already been accomplished. It's already been accomplished.
That's seen in these words by our Lord, it is finished. You've already crossed the finish
line. You've already won the victory. You know, if you believe that,
you can't make a work out of this, can you? Thanks be unto God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ. This is the victory that overcometh
the world. Even our faith, who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God. We've already got the victory.
So in what he's telling you, understand this ahead of time,
you've already got the victory. So don't, this is not a work,
but you know what else this doesn't do? This doesn't make us indifferent
about our race. I wanna run a good race, don't
you? I want to fight a good fight. That's what every believer desires. Now we've already been given
the victory, but while we run this race, look what he says
in verse 25. And every man that striveth for
the mastery. This is talking about a man training
for an athletic event that's going on in the Olympics right
now. All these races, the different things that are going to be taking
place. You have people striving for the mastery. And we've seen
athletes give themselves so wholeheartedly to this pursuit of striving for
the mastery. You want to win. They're not
in it to lose it. They want to win. Every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. What self-control,
what discipline this athlete uses. He's temperate in all things. He's denying himself many things. He's watching what he eats. He's
exercising. He's denying himself so many
certain things in order to win this race or to win this boxing
match or to whatever sport it is, he's seeking to win. Every
man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, a crown made of leaves, a garland of leaves. Now, when
I talk about the Olympics of Athens or these games that were
played in Corinth every three years. Anybody know who won any
of the races? No. You have no way of knowing.
I mean, it's just so unimportant. It's so zero. Nobody knows who
won. That's long ago history. Nobody
cares who won. That's how important this is
in the grand scheme of things. People giving themselves to these athletic
pursuits, they're not important. They're doing this for a corruptible
crown. But we, this race we're running
is for an incorruptible crown. It's what Paul calls the crown
of righteousness. Now turn with me to 2 Timothy
chapter four. Paul has reached the end of his
life. He knows he's soon gonna die.
Look at what he says in verse six. For I am now ready to be
offered, poured out as a drink offering, is what the word means.
And the time of my departure is at hand. I love the way he
calls death, my time of departure. You know, when you go into an
airport, you have departure times. I'm going to be transported into
glory. And the time of my departure
is very near." Now look what he says. He once again alludes
to sports to illustrate what he's saying. He says, I fought
a good fight. I have finished my course, my
race. I've kept the faith. Now think
about what he says. I fought a good fight. Well,
how do you go about fighting a good fight? By finishing. I finished my course. I've endured
all the way to the end. I have kept the faith. Now, here's what you do when
you fight a good fight, and when you finish your course, and you
keep the, here's what you do, you keep the faith. You keep
the faith. I have persevered in looking
to Christ only. Now that's what perseverance
is. It isn't remaining religious. All kinds of people remain religious
all the way till they die, but that's not what perseverance
in the faith means. It means the very last breath
you take before you die, you're looking to Christ alone as the
only way you're gonna be in heaven. You persevered that. And you
persevere in preaching that. That's what Paul is saying. He
said, I've fought a good fight. I've finished my course. I have
kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness. Now this crown is better than
any garland leave. This is a crown of righteousness.
And this is talking about the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You know, I've heard of preachers.
They say there's five different crowns mentioned in the scripture.
And we want to have all five of those crowns on our head.
And I think, how do you get five crowns on your head? It doesn't
even make sense. The only crown is the crown he's
speaking of right here, the crown of righteousness. Now, look what
Paul says about this crown. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness. And I have no doubt that this
is the same thing Paul was speaking of when he said, oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, I don't want to have anything to do with
anything that has any of my fingerprints on it. I just want to have the
righteousness of Jesus Christ as my only righteousness before
God. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith. Paul said that's the ground I
want to win. Now look what he says next, though. I love this.
says henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness
which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day
the day of judgment and not to me only but unto all them also
that love his appearing now i can say this every believer loves
his appearing don't you love His appearing as your surety
before the foundation of the world, when He appeared before
the Father and took full responsibility for your salvation. Do you love
that appearing? Do you love His appearing here
on earth? When He appeared here on earth,
not once in the end of the world have He appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He appeared here on earth and
kept the law for me. I love His appearing. I love
his appearing on the cross when he went to the cross as my substitute
and took my sin. We just heard it sung. He took
my sin and my sorrows. He made it his very own. He bore
the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. I love his appearing
on the cross. I'm so thankful for it. I'm so
thankful for his appearing when he walked out of that tomb. He
actually died for sin. They laid a dead, the God man
dead. Three days later, he opened his
eyes alive. Sin had been put away. I love
his appearing as he walked out of that tomb. I love his appearing
now. He appears in the presence of
God for us as our great intercessor. Don't you love his appearing?
And oh, how I'm gonna love his appearing when he returns. And
the scripture says, we'll be like him, for we shall see him
as he is. Do you know if you and I ever
see him as he is, there's such power and glory in that, that
it's going to cause us to be perfectly conformed to his image.
Do you love his appearing? This crown of righteousness is
not just some particular crown that only the few get that are
better this thing of running the race than others, this is
the crown that every believer shall have, this crown of righteousness. Now what Paul is saying, shall
I give less effort in my pursuit of Christ than these athletes
give? No. No. Am I to be slothful and lazy?
Am I to be casual about this? You know, just in preaching,
in preaching, talking about myself, am I to give anything less than
my best in seeking a word from God and seeking to pray, seeking
for the Lord's blessing, seeking to study, seeking to do everything? Every time I preach, every time
I preach, I want to know. It might not end up being as
good as I would have wanted it to be, but I always want to know
that I've done my best. That is to be our attitude in
everything, in this walk, this race we're running. Now back to our text in 1 Corinthians
9. Now he's staying with this sports
metaphor. Metaphor, however you say it.
Verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. Now, what this has to do, if you started
off to run a race, what if you didn't know where the finish
line was? You wouldn't know which direction to go. You would be
confused. You would run aimlessly. You
might start here. Where's the finish line? I don't
know. You'd run around circles. Paul said, that's not the way
I run. He said, when I swing my fist, I'm not as one beating
the air, I'm seeking to put, land a blow on my opponent, which
is me. Now, consider these two things. I don't run uncertainly, aimlessly,
not knowing which direction to go. Now that word, uncertainly,
it's the, adverb, which is a word describing a verb, of the adjective
that Paul uses when he says, if the trumpet gives an uncertain
sound, an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for the
battle? There's a certain sound that must be blown. And if it's
not blown, nobody's going to prepare themselves for the battle.
Now, we want to give a certain sound, don't we? The Bible is
God's Word. It's our only source of truth. God is, as the Bible declares
Him to be, the absolute sovereign monarch of the universe, the
creator, holy. Men are as the Bible presents
them to be. I want to sound a clear note,
dead in sins. Dead. You can't save yourself. God's
got to do something for you. I want to sound a clear note
as to the work of the three persons of the Trinity in salvation.
God the Father elected a people. Christ died for the elect. God
the Holy Spirit gives them life. And all those people will persevere
all the way to the end. I want to give a certain sound.
I don't want there to be any confusion about that. And this
race we're running. Let us run with patience, the
scripture says, the race that is set before us. Now there we
go again, and that wasn't Paul. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the
finisher of faith. Now that's how I'm to run this
race. Looking unto Jesus. And this word looking is the
only time this time this word in the New Testament is used.
It means looking so as not to look at anything else. You look
to Christ only. You don't look down at your feet
to see how you're running. You don't look to the side to
see how somebody else is running. You don't look behind you to
look for some kind of evidences that you're doing a good job
running. You look to Christ only. looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. Now he says in verse 26, I therefore
so run not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth
the air, but this phrase in verse 27 is literally, I give myself
a black eye. I don't miss. I give myself a
black eye. I love that scripture in 1 Corinthians
11, and this is really saying the same thing. If we judge ourselves,
we wouldn't be judged. I give myself a black Now he's
talking about, I keep under my body. I give it, my body, a black
eye. When he's talking about body,
he's not just talking about the physical body where the sins
are committed. He's talking about everything that represents the
flesh. Now in this thing of pursuing and following after Christ and
running this race, we don't Well, since we've already got the victory,
it doesn't matter how I live or what I do. We don't say that
at all. We have an evil man that we give
a black eye to. That's what Paul's doing in Romans
chapter 7. He's giving that evil man a black eye. And we don't
just say, well, it's already taken care of. I've already got
the victory. I can go ahead and live in a sinful and self-indulgent
way. No believer says that. That's
what we're always accused of. If I believe like you do, I'd
live any way I want. Listen, the way I want to live
is I want to live without sin. That's what I want. If I've got
what I want, that's what I desire to have. I keep under my body and bring
it into subjection. And the picture here is it's
a slave that I don't trust. It's a defeated enemy that I
don't trust. And I got to watch him. I got
to look out for him because I don't trust him for a second. That
is the imagery that Paul's giving us when he talks about, I give
myself a black eye, my body a black eye, and I keep it in subjection.
It's a slave. It's an enemy that would put
me to death if it could. I don't trust it. I'm watching
out for it. That's what he is saying by that.
I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. And look
what he says next. Lest by any means, when I preach to others, I myself
should be a reprobate is the word. disqualified. Someone who never really crosses
the finish line. I've been disqualified. Now I love the last verse of Psalm 119. Whoever wrote that Psalm said,
inspired by God the Holy Spirit. You know, everything in the Bible
is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. That's one of the reasons
why I love it so much. It's not the word of a man. The psalmist said, I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. You have to be a sheep to go
astray like a lost sheep. That's something only a sheep
can do. Goats don't go astray. They're already out there, but
a sheep. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. All we, the scripture says, like
sheep, have gone astray. Now, what happens when you've
gone astray? You do what the psalmist said, seek thy servant,
I can't get back to you. I can't find my way back. I'm
in a mess. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy word. And what's his word? The Son
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Now, a lost sheep is his sheep,
and he'll never let his sheep stay lost. And part of this race
that we're running is constantly asking the Lord, seek thy servant. I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. I'm not going to say that to you. I've gone astray. I'm not going to say that to
you, but I'm going to say it to him. Lord, I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. I've got off the course. I've
got off the path. Seek thy servant. And that is to be the attitude
of this one who is running this race. Now, if that's not me, if I have this attitude of laissez-faire, I'm saved, I'm indifferent, I'm
in good shape, got a lot to, that's the way the Churchill
I had to see him become. I'm rich, I'm increased with
goods, I have need of nothing, I'm in good shape, I'm okay,
you're okay. If I have that attitude, Paul says,
I will prove to be a reprobate, disqualified. Now in closing,
let me make this statement. Running this race is hard. It's not easy to deny yourself,
and every one of us are called upon to do it, to take up your
cross, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing easy
about that. The Lord said, strive, agonize, to enter in at the straight
gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that lead to destruction. And many there be that go in
there. And I love, in Luke's account, here's how this happened.
Somebody said to the Lord, are there few to be saved? You thought
that. Why aren't more people saved?
Are there few to be saved? You have, Lord, an answer to
him. You strive to enter in to the straight gate. Whether few
or many or nobody, what's that to you? You strive. You agonize
to enter in at the straight gate. Oh, may God give us the grace
to have that determination by his grace. While this race is
difficult, let me remind you this too. This race is easy. The Lord said, come unto me,
All ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you'll find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. You know why his yoke is easy
and his burden is light? Because he bears all the weight,
and me and you don't bear any. Now, one of the things that are
essential in proper training for a race, if you want to so
to speak, that's what he's talking about, Get your rest. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I am not resting in Christ,
I'm not running this race. May the Lord enable us to run
so as to obtain. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. And Lord, we're so aware of our
weakness, our weakness, our sinfulness, and
this thing of running this race. And we ask that you would give
us the grace to give ourselves a black eye. so as to have nowhere
to look but Christ, and let us run with patience this race that's
set before us, looking unto thy Son as our salvation. Lord, deliver us from indifference. Deliver us from self-satisfaction.
Deliver us from spiritual laziness. But Lord, enable us to run to
obtain the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray.